Proverb 13:20

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

I like the Amplified Bible version of this scripture also:

He who walks [as a companion] with wise men will be wise, But the companions of [conceited, dull-witted] fools [are fools themselves and] will experience harm.

This Proverb, written about 900 years before the birth of Christ, has been realized throughout human history. Even today, as concerned parents, we are watchful of who our children choose as friends. For example, we can see that “Lil Stevie” seems to be a good kid, polite, well mannered. We’ll invite him over to the house more to play with our son. But that “Lil Johnnie”, our son’s other friend…he seems like he is “bad news”. We don’t want our son associating with him. But as this is true for children, it is certainly true for adults…with consequences that can be just as impactful.

Your associates have a great influence on your thinking. And your thinking dictates your actions.

In business, you want to associate with other business minded people, especially those who are “successful”. This allows you to glean some of their knowledge and become more like them, from a business perspective.

In sports, you want to associate with players who are more skilled than you, so you can improve your performance.

Okay, we get it.

But the “flip side” is also true. If you associate with dishonest people, you will have a tendency to be more dishonest. If you associate with gossips, you will tend to gossip more. If you associate with people who cheat on their spouses…well you get the picture. Solomon laid it out over 2900 years ago and made it clear and concise so everyone can understand.

So the question on the table is, “Who are your ‘peeps’?”, that is who are the people with whom you associate? Who is influencing your actions and influencing who you will become?